Fetch! Pet Care Franchise Bleeds Franchisees Dry (FTC Complaint)

FETCH! Pet Care franchise owner claims “Phoenix Franchise Brands is breaching the contracts of franchisees through overcharging royalties, charging undisclosed junk fees, and the company’s continued failure to deliver on service-level agreement.”  by Sean Kelly

(UnhappyFranchisee.Com)  FETCH! Pet Care is what I call an “pet affinity” franchise:  one that is promoted, in part, to those with a love for animals and a strong desire to improve their lives.

Some pet franchisors share this affinity and this mission.

Others just see it as a tool to exploit and deceive pet lovers into investing in a predatory and doomed franchise.

This franchisee claims that Fetch! Pet Care franchisor Phoenix Brands, Greg & Maria Longe and the brokers promoting this franchise belong in the latter category.

The comment below was submitted to the FTC in response to its invitation for public comment on franchise regulations and practices.

It was posted by the Federal Trade Commission on Jul 31, 2024 (Docket Document FTC-2023-0026-2219).

Also read:  FETCH! Pet Care Franchise Complaints (Index)

Fetch! Pet Care Franchise Bleeds Franchisees Dry (FTC Complaint)

I am a Fetch! Pet Care franchisee and I purchased my territory in March 2022.

Fetch! Pet Care, Inc., owned by Phoenix Franchise Brands is breaching the contracts of franchisees through overcharging royalties, charging undisclosed junk fees, and the company’s continued failure to deliver on service-level agreement.

Overcharging Royalties:

Many franchisees in the Fetch! Pet Care System have discovered repeated instances of overcharges in weekly royalty payments. When we raised our concerns, we were ignored, and the overcharge continues. I believe this is a tactic to get more royalties from franchisees by pulling sales before the billing week is complete. This allows the company to capture a larger gross sales figure to calculate royalties with, before cancellations happen. In addition, Phoenix Franchise Brands is changing the invoicing schedule without notice.

Changing Invoicing and Payment Schedule: 

As stated in our contract, weekly invoices are to be issued on Tuesdays, ACH Payment processed on Thursdays. Franchisor must notifiy Franchisee of changes to the schedule 60 days in advance. Our invoices come at erratic times. No notice given of change in schedule. There are instances of the invoice issuing on a Wednesday with a due date pulled up to the same Wednesday. This allows us no time to review before the royalties are drawn from our account via ACH. Many of us have put a stop payment on our ACH payment to Fetch! Inc. We did not authorize the company to pull however much they want, whenever they want.

Unlawful Charging of Junk Fees Not Disclosed in the FDD: 

Franchisees have found in our own invoice audit and revisiting our contracts that many of us have been charged extra fees that should be covered under the Operations and Brand Development portion of our royalties. Fees include software license essential to our operations, location phone and location email. The FDD specifically states that phone, email, and operational software are provided and covered under our royalties. When we brought this to their attention, the company’s response was the software license is optional–it is not. No answer as to why some Franchisees are being charged for phone and email for their market. The junk fees are also not charged consistently across the franchise system under the same contract terms. Some Franchisees are on the same suite of tools and pay no extra—their royalties cover it all, as it should. Most are being charged software but not phone and email. A few are paying extra for each element: software, phone and email. We all pay the same 22% royalty with 15% going toward Operations and Brand Development.

Failure to Deliver on SLA:
Part of the Franchise Agreement post 2020 is that we have to use the national call center. The call center’s main responsibility is to convert leads. Owners who are using the call center convert at average 10%. Owners who have taken over converting their own leads convert at average 90%. This has been an ongoing issue for the four years Phoenix brands has owned Fetch! Nothing has changed. One of the junk fees the company is claiming is optional, is the ticketing system that’s essential to tracking leads as well as conversion metrics. Their response to those of us who pushed back is shutting off access.

Many of us purchased into the Fetch! franchise because we were promised a box of tools.

Instead, we received a box of bricks.

In addition, Phoenix brands is blatantly breaching our contract with royalty overcharges and unlawful charges of junk fees for tools we were promised and already pay for with our royalties.

About Fetch! Pet Care & Phoenix Franchise Brands:

 Livonia, MI-based Phoenix Franchise Brands was founded & is headed by Greg Longe & Maria Longe (aka Maria Shinabarger). 

One or both of the Longes were previously associated with British Swim School, Martinizing International, Rooster’s Men’s Grooming Center, Zoup! (rebranded Z!Eats), & Collision on Wheels International (defunct).

Private Equity:  Cybeck Capital Fund, LLC (“CCF”), a private equity fund managed by Cybeck Capital Partners, LLC of Dayton, Ohio, acquired a portion of the issued and outstanding common stock of Fetch! Pet Care, Inc. and retains a minority ownership interest in Fetch! Pet Care, Inc.

Litigation:  Phoenix Franchise Brands is being sued by call center provider EagleOne Insights, LLC.

Franchise Registrations appear to be expired in multiple states (CA, MN, & IN).  Most recent FDD expired September, 2024

Please share your story, your experience or opinions of the Fetch! Pet Care franchise and Phoenix Franchise Brands Franchises

Invitation:  Please Share Your Opinion of Experience (Anonymity Assured)

Are you familiar with Greg Longe, Maria Longe, Phoenix Franchise Brands, or Cybeck Capital Fund?

Please leave a comment below or email us, in confidence, at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com.

Franchisors:  The franchisor, its employees and agents are invited to submit correction, clarifications, rebuttals or other opinions for immediate consideration.

UnhappyFranchisee.com is not associated with this or other franchise company or seller.

Tags:  Fetch! Pet Care franchise complaints, Fetch! Pet Care franchise, Fetch franchise, Phoenix Franchise Brands, franchise complaints, Greg Longe, Maria Longe, Maria Shinabarger, pet franchises, Rhino7, Cybeck Capital Fund, LLC (“CCF”), Cybeck Capital Partners, LLC, dog franchise, Furry Land franchise, Spray Foam Genie franchise, Door Renew franchise, MedSpa810 franchise, Federal Trade Commission, FTC